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    Sheriff: Amish man's beard cut in new Ohio attack

    AP – Fri, Nov 11, 2011

    STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (AP) — An elderly Amish man was attacked by his own son, who a sheriff said cut the man's hair and beard in the latest incident in a breakaway Amish community. The victim told the sheriff he was scared and upset but wouldn't press charges.

    "I'm frustrated with it. I'm upset with it. And, here again, the man doesn't want to file charges because of his belief," Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla said Friday.

    Abdalla warned the son in advance that he didn't want trouble and parked nearby during the father-son reunion, the first in several years.

    The sheriff said the elderly man was attacked Wednesday while visiting his son in the breakaway Amish community that's home to five suspects charged in an earlier beard-cutting attack. The son, whose father-in-law is the group's leader, wasn't among those charged earlier, Abdalla said.

    Authorities in three other counties are investigating similar alleged attacks.

    Such hair-cutting attacks are offensive to the Amish because they believe the Bible instructs women to let their hair grow long and men to grow beards and stop shaving once they marry.

    The man, who Abdalla said was in his 70s, went to his son's home and the two talked. The man said his son then attacked him, with the help of the son's children, and wrestled the elderly man to the ground, Abdalla said.

    The sheriff said the elderly man's wife tried to help her husband but was held back by her daughter-in-law.

    "This guy was just totally destroyed after this happened. They just humiliated him. I talked to him. I mean, the guy's a broken man," Abdalla said.

    Abdalla said the beard-cutting incidents are related to Sam Mullet, leader of the breakaway Amish group in the Bergholz area. The group has had differences with other bishops over the handling of church matters, and Abdalla said the son of the latest victim is married to Mullet's daughter.

    Mullet told The Associated Press last month that the hair-cutting was a response to criticism of his leadership from other Amish bishops.

    "They changed the rulings of our church here, and they're trying to force their way down our throat, make us do like they want us to do, and we're not going to do that," Mullet said.

    The sheriff said the latest victim traveled from Ashland County in response to an invitation from his son.

    The attacks in September and October struck at the core of the Amish identity and tested their principles. While it's uncommon for the Amish to take disputes public and enlist authorities, there is no central authority to decide so it usually falls to the church leaders or those involved.

    Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins has said an Amish man came to his office with an attorney earlier this fall and tried to surrender in the September attack on a couple in Mesopotamia in northeast Ohio. Watkins said he turned the man away because no charges were filed in that case.

    In that case, a 57-year-old woman blamed her sons and a son-in-law for an attack on her husband and said they were involved in a cult in the county 75 northwest of Steubenville.

     
    • AE
      AE  •  6 mths ago
      This really isn't about being Amish. This was the disrespect of a son towards his father. The Amish have their way of living and within their world they are very peaceful and forgiving people. This world could learn from their ways. :)
      • Steve
        Steve 6 mths ago
        The Amish (who I lived around and nearby for several years) harbor a cornucopia of perverts, deviants and child molesters. Like every religion, they hide behind a devout and pious front but they are a virtual bee hive of mongrels and outside-the-law mentality abusers to their wives and their children.
      • Melissa and Cathy
        Melissa and Cathy 6 mths ago
        They are forgiving of outsiders, but they do not forgive their own family when they choose to leave the sect. Heard of 'shunning'? I will never understand why they turn against and totally reject their children who leave the Amish ways. They are intolerant and unforgiving in this respect. That is NOT what the Bible teaches.
    • kawn
      kawn  •  Pinole, United States  •  6 mths ago
      This is elderly abuse.......not butts about it. The DA needs to get involved.
      • ole fan
        ole fan 5 mths ago
        Doesn't matter if the father wants to press charges or not. As Kawn said it is elder abuse and should be charged with that, not only for the father but the mother as well.
      • Carl
        Carl 5 mths ago
        You have to have a testifying witness/victim at trial unless the older man made "excited utterances" that are exceptions to the hearsay rule which would allow his verbal statements made to police to be admissible at trial. Used to be that battered women wouldn't testify at the trial of the husband. BUT, often times during the initial police response/investigation, such utterances are made. Those statements are usually admissible as evidence as an exception to the hearsay rule. Punish the punk for abusing the Dad I say.
    • Leslie
      Leslie  •  Richardson, United States  •  6 mths ago
      What happened to one of the commaments" Honor thy Father and Mother " ?
      • Jim
        Jim 6 mths ago
        What is a commament?
      • Melissa and Cathy
        Melissa and Cathy 6 mths ago
        Jim - geez. What about "he who is perfect cast the first stone?"
    • Mark
      Mark  •  La Crosse, United States  •  6 mths ago
      For the Amish, this is extreme violence. This leader of the break away cult must be a real nut to condone attacks like this where the victims are lured in for this purpose. I wonder how long it will be before he has enough influence over his cult to ramp up the violence.
    • Dana
      Dana  •  6 mths ago
      Oh yeah, it's so much better to walk around the dirty city with your eyes to the ground at all times, fearful of making eye contact with the wrong individual. I'll take the Amish any day!
    • Steve
      Steve  •  6 mths ago
      Weird. The beard-cutters are like the 'gang-bangers' of the Amish community.
    • b2m3
      b2m3  •  Jonesboro, United States  •  6 mths ago
      maybe they think they have a good reason to cut beards - BUT all i see is complete & total disrespect!
    • Mr. Nuts
      Mr. Nuts  •  6 mths ago
      Funny how a guy named Mullet is behind hair cutting attacks.
    • dadude
      dadude  •  San Francisco, United States  •  5 mths ago
      Do this to your dad? Agree with his beliefs or not, what exactly did he do to make you think assaulting him and his wife with your family was justified? Being Amish?
    • Sandra
      Sandra  •  Oklahoma City, United States  •  6 mths ago
      We have Amish who live amoung us, They ar very sweet ppl. Most of th grocery stores buy fresh egg & veggies from them. I moved from th city because! i wanted our chilrden to get a better start in life. I'm proud to say, My son is in th service & top of his rank. We tought our children to be leaders not followers. I love it in this small town. Ive never met such sweet respectable ppl. I like it better ppl smile & wave! in th city they give u th finger when i smile & wave.
      • ThisIsNuts
        ThisIsNuts 6 mths ago
        See, that's the problem with texting. Kids don't learn how to spell correctly. (i.e. 'tought'?) And for the record, it really doesn't take a lot more time to put the E on the.
      • Sandra
        Sandra 5 mths ago
        Im sorry! i have problems with my grammer...I do not understand why some ppl get so upset. I try my hardest! I have to ask my teen's how to spell word's. Thanks to all who support me! I really need all th support right now.
    • Eugene
      Eugene  •  Bulacan, Philippines  •  6 mths ago
      I cite the Amish as good examples of humans to my children... I try to emulate them in many ways concerning a number of issues pertaining to personal behavior and materialism…. now what.... this much more troubling the demise of basketball and baseball....
    • Big Leo
      Big Leo  •  Gila Bend, United States  •  6 mths ago
      There are a quarter of a million Amish who are good neighbors, self sufficient and completely law abiding. There are five or ten who are nuts. To the anti-religious bigots, this proves that religion is evil. To the rest of us, this proves that bigots are devoid of math and logic skills.
    • al sharpton
      al sharpton  •  Tulsa, United States  •  6 mths ago
      ghetto crime in a amish community
    • Buslady
      Buslady  •  5 mths ago
      Poor guy, that's sad. But where does it say in the bible to grow out hair? Kind of odd to me. But whatever...
    • Erica
      Erica  •  Everett, United States  •  5 mths ago
      I think this is terrible, These people should be ashamed of themselves
    • Ann Droid
      Ann Droid  •  5 mths ago
      Clop, Clop, Clop, Bang !
    • Tom Lazer
      Tom Lazer  •  Eagle, United States  •  5 mths ago
      Crazy. When I was growing up I fought to keep my long hair which has since gone bald on the crown. I also wore a beard but my grandfather told me the men in my family never wore beards and I should get a shave before coming to their house for supper. I did not grow a beard ever again but settled for a mustache.
    • older and wiser
      older and wiser  •  Fayetteville, United States  •  5 mths ago
      I respect and honor the Amish people and I think it is terrible what is hapening in their community. They are truly peace loving people. Then I have to think about the outside world that we non-Amish live in , the hectic fast paced life we live , the dog eat dog way we do business, and I have to laugh and say they saved $20.00 on that hair cut.
    • Rebecca
      Rebecca  •  6 mths ago
      sorry, how am i supposed to take a story about a rogue hair cutting "gang" when their leader is called Sam MULLET???

      is its april 1st?
    • Jeff
      Jeff  •  Culpeper, United States  •  6 mths ago
      Five against one old man, boy that's heroism . What a bunch of losers.
     Post a comment
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